Wicked Game
by Jade and Teresa
Summary: AU. She had the perfect life. Every boy wanted her, and every girl wanted to be her. But what did Kagura want for herself? How could she break free of the shackles no one could see except for her? Sometimes, the chains make you feel safe.
1. Default Chapter

And now for something completely different!

This is an AU, and hopefully I will not have to explain much else, as I feel that the first chapter does a pretty good job of establishing what's going on. Plus, I'm lazy.

Wicked Game

Chapter 1

"Let me see that." Kagura Kaze pulled her hand away from the careful ministrations of a girl with bright orange pigtails and a nervously hopeful smile on her face. "Ugh, look at this. You've gotten polish all over my cuticles." She sighed as though there was no solution that could make this better, "Ayame, just…eat your food. Yura, do you have any remover with you?"

"Um…" the girl in question, a very generously proportioned young woman with a short black bob set off by her pale pink eyes, rummaged through her nearby knapsack, which one might note with some interest, contained not one piece of paper. Nor did it contain any books or writing utensils, which was odd, considering that all of the girls were currently at school on their lunch break. However, this group of girls, or at least the five that were clearly the leaders, seemed not to care much for the strictures of academia. Not one of them wore the green and white uniform that covered the campus and made almost every other girl indistinguishable from the next. These girls were not willing to accept such anonymity. "Here it is. I told you not to let Ayame do your nails." The orange-haired girl, one of the many surrounding these five girls as though hoping to be given some scraps, pouted and tugged petulantly at one of her pigtails while munching on her sandwich.

"I know, I know, but usually I have Rin do them, and she's not around today." Kagura furrowed her brow prettily and turned to another of the few girls not wearing a uniform. "Kikyo, do you know where she's at?"

"I'm not her keeper." The pale girl with long, lustrous black hair answered, lifting grey eyes from a book she was reading. Kikyo was, of course, not reading anything that was assigned for her classes. She would not lower herself to menial labor such as that. She was reading purely for enjoyment, something she had tried, and failed, to make Yura understand on several occasions. "Wow, she really did botch the manicure, didn't she?" she offered an amused smile in the direction of Kagura's hands before returning to her book.

"I know where Rin is!" Ayame spoke up helpfully, clearly hoping to repair the damage she had done herself in the eyes of these girls who she so clearly craved the esteem of. "She's volunteering to help show some of the new students around."

"Oh please, is it Shipping Day already?" another of the girls, this one nearly as pale as Kikyo with hair just as rich and black, but bright blue eyes and a face that looked as haughty and perfect as that of a queen rolled her eyes and batted away the slightly younger girl who was busy brushing her hair. "Didn't we get a new batch only a few weeks ago?"

"Tsubaki, it's been three months since the last batch of transfers." This last girl, with her wavy black hair pinned sensibly back and away from her maroon eyes and determined features frowned at her companion. She was the only one of these five girls who was actually eating her lunch without engaging in any other task simultaneously. "And you could try being a bit nicer to them. Some of them aren't that bad. And after all, they're always so smart. If you make friends with one, I'm sure you could start acing classes without your dad's help." She teased.

"Sango, try to tell me that you honestly believe we'll ever use any of the drivel they're trying to force feed us here?" Kagura spoke up again. "Although I agree that the transfers aren't all that bad. I may start dating one if they can find a cute boy in that teaming mass of unwashed peasants in the public schools."

"You're so bad, Kagura." Yura laughed as though a great joke had just been made. "You'd never date one of them, would you? Think of what your mother would say."

"Exactly why she would do it." Kikyo turned a page in her book, not looking up, her voice as offhand as if she had heard barely any of the conversation going on around her.

"Ayame, go find Rin and send her back here." Kagura set down the nail polish remover and put the lid back on it before handing it back to Yura. "I want my nails painted."

"You are such a princess, Kagura." Sango snorted as she finished off her lunch and leaned back on the blanket that was big enough for only the five of them to sit on. The rest of the girls had to suffer the grass except for the ones who had thought enough to bring their own blankets. "Don't you have someone at home who can do it for you?"

"Of course." Kagura rolled her eyes as Ayame stood up to leave, still looking rather petulant. "But if I want it done in the middle of the day, this way is so much easier. Oh, Ayame?"

"Yes?" the girl turned back, a hopeful look in her green eyes.

"Don't dawdle. She should be easy enough to find." Kagura waved her away as though the girl was a servant, and Ayame sighed sadly as she went to find Rin. She only wished she could get one kind word from Kagura. Kagura Kaze was the richest girl in a school full of well to do heirs and heiresses. She had never had any trouble making friends and attracting men, not only because of her financial assets, but also because of her wit, confidence, and beauty. Ayame knew that if Kagura would be more accepting, if she would treat the girl a bit more kindly, then everyone would see that they were really friends, and they would show her more respect. As it was, she was struggling to be accepted. Her parents were rich by most standards, but at Yuufuku Academy, she was not especially wealthy. And she couldn't possibly hope to make more friends without a powerful connection, and Kagura was as powerful as it got.

"Someday." Ayame sighed, but before she could finish her thought, she ran into two boys and almost fell over, but was caught before her body could reach the ground.

"Miss Niji, are you alright?" twinkling purple eyes met hers, and she felt like swooning as she realized she had just been caught in the arms of Yuufuku's most infamous playboy, Miroku Houshi. "You hurried by so fast that I fear I did not see you until it was too late."

"Give it a rest, Miroku." Ayame was released just as Miroku's companion, another well known bad influence on innocent female minds by the name of Hiten Kaminari, spoke up, his red eyes gleaming as his long, dark braid whipped at the turning of his head. "On an errand for Queen B?" he asked Ayame, who nodded shortly. She still was not sure whether the numerous people who used that nickname for Kagura meant it as only a reference to the insect, or whether the b stood for something in particular. One boy had told her that it was short for beautiful, but another source had assured her that it was meant to be short for bitch. Whichever it was, Kagura did not seem to care about the name, or perhaps did not lower herself to learn about such things from the masses. Of course, Miroku and Hiten were hardly common, even by Yuufuku standards. Both of them were extremely well to do, and Hiten was even one of the most well known suitors for Kagura's attentions. However, his aim at becoming her companion hardly dampened his spirit for dating other girls, and he generally explained to those who asked that as long as Kagura was not his girlfriend, there was no sense in keeping his grace and charm hidden away from the rest of the women at Yuufuku. Miroku was known to flirt with Kagura, but he was known to flirt with almost anything that moved, male or female. No one was sure if he actually swung both ways, but there were rumors about the nature of his relationship with Hiten, since they were nearly joined at the hip, but while Miroku would only wiggle his eyebrows suggestively when the topic was brought up, Hiten denied such intimacies vehemently. He claimed that Miroku only flirted with men because he knew it threw them off, and because some girls found that sort of thing very attractive, but Ayame supposed only Miroku could know the whole truth.

"We were just out to admire the new arrivals." Miroku winked at her in a way that left no doubt as to what his meaning might exactly be.

"Yes, Miroku and I like to have first pick when the fresh meat comes in on Shipping Day." Hiten told her. "Where are you off to?"

"I have to find Rin." She answered quickly, not wanting to share the story of her shame with the nail polish. Just then, another boy approached, and Ayame debated whether she should flee or not. Inuyasha Ryouken was not noted for his kindness toward others, and she had already had more than one unpleasant encounter with him, though she remained almost positive he did not know her name. However, it was well known that he was Miroku's friend, and while he did not seem very fond of Hiten, Ayame felt she might be safe if she just hid behind Miroku.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Inuyasha spoke, his tone gruff and without any of the pleasant suave quality that was in Hiten and Miroku's voices. "I've been eating by myself this whole damn time. Shippo's off doing who knows what, and then I find you with your freaking boyfriend…" he trailed off, clearly annoyed.

"I am _not_ his boyfriend." Hiten hissed in annoyance. "We were out checking on the new arrivals."

"Oh, you guys slumming again?" he laughed as though this was rather amusing.

"No, we are only taking a bit of a tour of the grounds in the hopes of meeting some very well-read young women who have a more worldly view than most of our peers." Miroku corrected.

"Yeah, so slumming." Inuyasha nodded slightly. "Well, have fun, I guess. I'm going to go find Shippo and ream his ass out for making me eat all alone like a damn loser." He waved and wandered away as Hiten shook his head in obvious irritation.

"You know, I wish he wasn't such a dick." The braided boy fumed as he turned back to face his friend. "I don't see what his problem is."

"Inuyasha is actually a very nice young man." Miroku informed him patiently. "I wish my friends could all learn to get along better, but I guess I can never have all of what I desire in this life. Not to say that I am not blessed to be given the company of such beautiful women on a daily basis…"

"You better hurry, Kagura will be mad if you make her wait." Hiten ushered Ayame off, and she went reluctantly. She wished that having Miroku flirt with her made her feel a bit better about her situation, but he would truly flirt with just about anyone who was convenient, and so it failed to flatter her.

Hurrying along on her errand, Ayame lowered her head as she passed Naraku Jigabachi and his considerable crowd of lackeys. Some people compared Ayame and the other girls that followed Kagura's group around to this gang, but she felt that while they were willing to do many things for those five girls, the people that followed Naraku around were rather scary and would likely do much more horrible things than any of Ayame's group could even dream of doing. Also, Naraku was feared by most every student of Yuufuku, or at least avoided. She could count the number of people who would tell Naraku exactly what they thought of him on both hands, and she felt great admiration for every one of those people, even Inuyasha, who seemed to be that honest not because he was brave, but because he relished the chance to pick a fight with anyone, and Naraku was one of his favorite opponents, even though Ayame was almost positive that he always ended up being placed against a member of Naraku's gang rather than the terrifying heir himself. Naraku was another of Kagura's suitors, and while he had more money than the rest of them, he was also Kagura's least favorite, something that Ayame had learned while listening to the endless conversations between Kagura and her friends. Apparently, he was also Kagura's second cousin, which was part of her aversion to him. The other part of her problem with him seemed based on the fact that her mother loved him. Kagura hated her mother, it was well known, but Ayame was not clear on the whole reason behind this, although it supposedly had something to do with why her twin brother had been disinherited, officially making Kagura the richest girl in school. Ayame thought it was silly to begrudge her mother her subsequent postion of wealth and authority, above the high position she had already enjoyed. However, she had heard that before her brother had been disinherited, the two had been extremely close, and as far as she saw, they barely spoke anymore, so she laid it all down to an odd sort of family feud.

"Rin!" she called out as she finally spotted the other girl, who turned and waved at her with her customary cheerful grin. Ayame was sometimes jealous of the way that Kagura and her friends treated Rin better than a lot of the other girls, including Ayame herself, but it was hard to be angry with Rin. Her soft grey eyes and open personality were utterly disarming, and very few people disliked her. Even Inuyasha seemed confused by her cheer, so much so that Ayame had never seen her suffer at the lashings of his short temper.

"Hello, Ayame!" she greeted the other girl politely, and then gestured to the two people she was ushering around, who were clearly new transfer students, a tan boy with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail that was about as long as Hiten's braid and brilliant blue eyes, and a girl with slightly wavy black hair and blue-grey eyes. Yuufuku only received two sorts of students. The majority were rich children who started in the correct kindergarten, were then placed in the subsequent grade school, and finally reached Yuufuku Academy when they were ready for middle school. They could continue in this privileged educational existence all the way through high school, and then they would be assured a spot in any university they chose. The other sort of students were the transfers, almost exclusively teenagers who were too poor to afford tuition, but transferred in after managing high enough scores on their exams that they were able to attend due to financial aid. These were typically the most studious and least popular students. Not only did they spend a large amount of time studying while their wealthy peers slacked off, they also often worked after school jobs, and even though they did receive income, it was infinitesimal next to the allowances afforded to most of Yuufuku Academy's students, and therefore, even if they were able to find time in their schedules to socialize with their richer peers, they usually could not afford to do any of the things that said peers were used to doing for fun. "This is Kagome Higurashi, and Kouga Ookami. Kouga, Kagome, this is my friend Ayame Niji."

"Kagura wants your help." Ayame jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "How about you bring them over? They can eat their lunches if they have anything."

"Are you guys ready to eat?" Rin turned a cheerful grin to the two transfers, who looked at each other as though unsure of how to answer.

"Sure." The boy, Kouga, answered after a moment. "Did you bring something, Kagome?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She patted her yellow backpack before smiling at Ayame. "It's nice to meet you, by the way. I hope we can be good friends."

"Sure, whatever." Ayame had no interest in befriending these nobodies, even though the boy was rather attractive. However, dating a transfer would undoubtedly only lower her popularity, so it wasn't even worth thinking about. "Have you told them who's who?" she asked Rin, who shook her head slightly before Ayame decided that she might as well impress these new kids with her knowledge of the inner workings of Yuufuku. "Let's talk while we walk back, then. See that guy over there?" she pointed to the first notable figure that she saw, a beautiful young man with shimmering silver hair that he kept back in a long ponytail. "That's Sesshoumaru Ryouken, probably one of the most desirable bachelors here at Yuufuku, but a total heartbreaker. He's the lonesome type, and he doesn't really have any friends, though he does have Jaken Kaeru, that little chubby guy there, to follow him around and just make him look prettier by comparison." She sighed as though extremely touched by the idea of his stoic nature, but Rin waved to the young man.

"Hello, Sesshoumaru!" she called out cheerily, and he seemed so surprised that he actually gave her a small wave of acknowledgement as he went on his way. Ayame pouted for a few seconds at Rin's ability to make friends with absolutely anyone she pleased before spotting someone else she felt the need to point out.

"Right there is Sesshoumaru's younger brother, Inuyasha. They don't get along at all, probably because Inuyasha is mean to almost everyone he meets. That guy with him is one of his very few friends, Shippo Maboroshi, and he's a pretty nice guy, with a pretty big fan girl following." She pointed a bit to one side. "See? Those girls are regular Shippo followers. He's a lot nicer to them than Sesshoumaru is to the girls that follow him around, though. But it's still dangerous to follow him, since Inuyasha will eventually get on your case." At that moment, Inuyasha, who had been eating an apple, threw the finished core at one of the girls, who squealed and leapt out of the way. "See? Now, moving on…" Ayame scanned the crowd assembled out in the courtyard for lunch and indicated her next subject with a quick jab of her thumb. "Don't stare, but that one right under the tree there, the one who isn't wearing a uniform at all, that's Naraku Jigabachi. He's trouble, and you do _not_ want to attract his attention if you can help it. That's his gang sitting all around him. None of them are nice at all, as you might expect."

"Now, I'm sure they'd be nice if they weren't being bossed around like that…" Rin attempted as they all moved past, Ayame becoming nervous at the way Kouga was staring at Naraku as though trying to detect the source of all these bad rumors in his appearance.

"Don't stare!" Ayame slapped his arm lightly as they continued on. "Now…who else. Oh, there's Miroku Houshi and Hiten Kaminari, very good friends, very bad boyfriends. They hit on pretty much every girl, so I'm sure you'll meet at least one of them personally, Kagome." Ayame assured the slightly shell-shocked looking girl. "Miroku's another of Inuyasha's friends, but Hiten and Inuyasha do not get along at all, so they can't all really hang out at the same time." Ayame explained further. "Oh, and do you see those three boys over there on the steps near the fountain? Those are the guys that Hiten usually hangs out with. The one with the braid is Bankotsu Shidousha, and then that one that looks like he might be a girl, that's Jakotsu Kaze, and the other one is Suikotsu Futari. They're all pretty cool, but Jakotsu hates most girls, so I just stay away from him."

"And this is where we're going to eat!" Rin interjected, pointing to the blanket of girls surrounded by several other girls who were talking amongst themselves, but all clearly waiting for any indication of attention from the girls without uniforms on. "The girls on the blanket are called the Five, and a lot of people are scared of them, but they're all really nice. I'll introduce you!" Ayame was torn between sitting down and staying beside Rin to hopefully receive some of the kindness the girls always handed out to her. In the end, she took a seat as near to the blanket as she could manage and watched the proceedings.

"Rin, you've brought the newbies with you." Kagura smiled at the girl and picked up the nail polish Ayame had attempted to apply earlier. "Think you can do my nails? You're much better at it than Ayame."

"Sure, Kagura, but first I was hoping these two could eat with us. They don't really know anyone yet, and they're both very nice." She explained. "Should I introduce you?"

"Go right ahead, Rin." Kagura waved as if it could matter less to her.

"All right." She smiled and ushered Kouga and Kagome forward. "This is Kouga Ookami, and this is Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, Kouga, these ladies are Kagura Kaze," Rin pointed to each girl as she named them. "Yura Ito, Sango Taijiya, Kikyo Kagami, and Tsubaki Kuroi. Now then, let's eat!" Rin let out a light laugh and sat down right on the blanket that the five girls were on, next to Kagura so she could do her nails. Ayame sighed as not one of the girls opposed this arrangement, and did not even say anything when Kagome and Kouga helped themselves to spots along the edge of the blanket.

"So, Kouga, Kagome, we were just discussing transfers before you guys came over." Kagura spoke as she waited patiently for Rin to eat her lunch so she could proceed to the nail painting. "I assume you're both poor kids?"

"Yes, yes we are." Kouga answered in a voice that made it very clear he was not enjoying the casual tone in which Kagura spoke of his financial situation.

"Well, the thing around here is that most transfers either fade into the background because they don't really make any friends, or they transfer back out because they can't handle it, the isolation and all the work." Kagura explained to them in a perfectly frank manner. "So we were just wondering if you'd be able to handle it."

"I'd never transfer back out of here." Kagome spoke up then. "My mother was so thrilled when I got in…it'd break her heart if I left."

"I'll be fine." Kouga added his opinion. "I seriously doubt I'll let the opinions of a bunch of spoiled rich kids hurt my feelings so badly that I have to transfer back out."

"Well, that's no attitude to have if you even _hope_ to make some friends here." Yura laughed haughtily. "You transfer kids always think you're so great just because you had to test in. But smarts really don't matter in the real world, and the sooner you see that, the better."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kouga asked, annoyed that they were all belittling his achievement.

"The fact of the matter is this," Tsubaki spoke up in Yura's defense. "Sure, you're smart. Maybe you're a genius, but if your dad works for my dad, chances are you'll be beneath me your whole life. Money goes so much further than intelligence, and it always has."

"I think that you can say that confidently, because if you were ever faced with working beneath someone like me who started so low, you'd just not get a job and live your whole life off your daddy's bank account." Kouga snapped.

"Ooh, I like this one, Kikyo. He's got attitude." Kagura laughed as though she relished this occurrence. "Hey, what was your name again?"

"Kouga." He told her, not sure if he liked her honesty or was annoyed with her confidence.

"Well, Kouga. Do you have a girlfriend?" Kagura batted her lashes at him, and he choked in laughter just as Yura made a noise like a cat being stepped on.

"Stop, Kagura, it's not funny when you joke about those things." She told the red-eyed girl. "You'll break his poor little heart. No pun intended, of course."

"Of course not." Kouga grumbled.

"Would you guys just learn to be nice?" Sango spoke up suddenly. "Yura, Tsubaki, you go on and on about how much better you are because of your money, but I know for a fact that you are capable of being friendly and polite, so there's no excuse not to. And Kagura…I don't even know what to say to you. I can never tell when you're serious and when you're just messing around."

"Hey, I don't discriminate!" Kagura blinked innocently. "Look how cute he is. I'd date him."

"Shut up." Tsubaki snorted. "You could have any boy in this school."

"Except Sesshoumaru." Kagura sighed wistfully. "He'll come around, though. No one can resist my charm."

"Or your cleavage." Kikyo offered a comment without even looking up from her book, and Kagura shot her a petulant frown, unable to hit her as her nails were still wet.

"Kikyo, you are just jealous." Kagura told her primly after recovering from the insult. "Like you could get Sesshoumaru."

"I think he's gay." Yura opined. "That's really the only explanation."

"You just think that because he wouldn't let you blow him in the bathrooms." Kagura teased the other girl, who tossed a wadded up napkin in her direction. "What?"

"I am _not_ a slut." She pouted angrily.

"Yura, come on." Kagura gave in. "You know I was teasing."

"Yeah, well." Yura huffed slightly. "Lucky for you I'm so forgiving."

"So," Rin turned to Kagome and Kouga when she'd finished Kagura's nails. "How's your first day so far?"

Kagome and Kouga looked at each other, and neither could come up with words to describe how they felt. All they knew for sure was that no matter how long they stayed at Yuufuku Academy, their term spent there would not soon be forgotten.

The End (Of Part 1, That Is)


	2. High School Politics

Hey everybody! Jade here to bring you superior fanfiction! Or something. You guys really inflated my ego with those reviews! Well, technically it was Teresa's chapter, but since I'm in on the whole storyline, I feel a sense of pride.

To the one known as '.': We do not do the pairings thing. We do not tell everyone who the pairings are so that there's absolutely no suspense in the story. We love to keep 'em guessing! And don't worry; the story will do plenty of that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo, and rolling with Shippo's posse.

Wicked Game

Chapter Two

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"Can I carry your books?" A bright-eyed girl asked Shippo Maboroshi eagerly. He scrubbed a hand through his ginger locks, feeling slightly uneasy. He knew a lot of the other rich kids who were popular had no problem ordering "lesser" people around and making them fetch things, but Shippo didn't think he'd ever get used to the idea of having lackeys, or slaves, or whatever they were called.

_It's hard to make friends with people that are falling all over themselves to do stuff for you…_

"No, I've got 'em Mizuki." Shippo gave her a warm smile. "But thanks for offering."

"I thought you were looking a little tired." Mizuki explained, her eyes wide with concern. "Are you sure you don't want me to?"

"I promise I'm fine." Shippo tried to reassure her.

"Hey, Shippo." Inuyasha stepped up beside him and immediately fell in step with the slightly shorter boy. Inuyasha was rarely seen in the same vicinity as a textbook, so it didn't surprise Shippo that the other boy didn't have one at all. Mizuki and a few other girls flocking about Shippo gave Inuyasha disapproving looks. Shippo couldn't say he blamed them; Inuyasha wasn't exactly courteous to the girls that were always following the ginger-haired boy around. Inuyasha turned, looking at something behind Shippo's head that must have appeared to him as the center of their group. "You guys, piss off."

"We're not guys." One of the girls, Koume, said in protest, her voice barely shaking.

"Like I give a shit." Inuyasha gave them one of his most threatening looks. "Now get lost," and right on cue, he cracked his knuckles menacingly. The girls squeaked and scampered a few feet behind them so that they were still following, but out of his reach.

"Can't you be a little nicer to them?" Shippo asked, even though he privately had to admit, he thought it was nice not be nagged about whether he was thirsty or hungry or if he needed anything at all, really.

"No." Inuyasha snorted. "Your stupid fan girls are crazy. There's only one way to get rid of them."

"You do a fabulous job." Shippo told his friend dryly. Sometimes, he wondered how Inuyasha and he ended up being friends. Shippo always tried to be nice to everyone, while Inuyasha made absolutely no effort whatsoever to make friends with anyone. If possible, Inuyasha seemed to be making _negative _amounts of effort in that respect.

"Fabulous job, eh?" A sly male voice spoke up from just behind them. "I hope you two weren't having fun without me."

"Shut _up, _Miroku." Inuyasha groaned and turned, hitting the twinkling, purple-eyed playboy in the arm with much less force than he would hit most people. That was about the only advantage Shippo could readily identify to being Inuyasha's friend. He didn't hit you as hard. "You're a fucking weirdo."

"Shippo," Miroku seemed unfazed by Inuyasha's actions. "I was wondering if you had seen my abettor; he left me to speak with one of the fine young ladies of our school, and I have not seen him since."

"You mean your fellow sex offender?" Inuyasha instantly translated. They all knew who Miroku was referring to, and it was clear that Inuyasha would never give Hiten the time of day, much less keep track of where he was at any given point in time. It was well-known that the two boys avoided each other like the plague.

"I haven't seen Hiten anywhere." Shippo shrugged. "Did you ask Bankotsu?"

"I have not had the happy pleasure." Miroku wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"We can go ask him." Shippo spoke up helpfully once more.

"Fuck no, that fucking Jakotsu is always around him." Inuyasha shot the idea down instantly. Even though his voice was gruff, his eyes displayed what could only be described as terror.

"Okay, we won't." Shippo rolled his eyes at the dark-haired boy. "Just because Inuyasha's scared of Jakotsu."

"I'm not _scared_ of him." Inuyasha told them, sticking his chin out defensively.

"Oh look, he's coming this way." Miroku commented in a casual voice, and Inuyasha immediately ducked his head down while looking around wildly for some form of escape. "I was just kidding."

"Thanks a lot, asshole." Inuyasha looked thoroughly infuriated that he had just shown he was, in fact, quite terrified of the feminine young man. Shippo really didn't understand his friend sometimes.

"I'll continue looking for him, then." Miroku shrugged and merrily went on his way.

"SHIPPO!" Five voices chorused at once, and Inuyasha groaned to show how thoroughly annoyed he was with this newest bit of company.

"Hey guys." Shippo turned hesitantly, trying to put on his best friendly smile. The five boys who had called out were standing before him, backs ramrod straight as though they were soldiers at attention. On the first day of school, Shippo had caught someone pushing around the smallest member of their little group and had stopped the perpetrator with ease. The group had been following him around ever since that day, convinced Shippo would protect them from everything.

_That's shoving a lot of responsibility on my shoulders…but they're alright. _

"They're almost as bad as the psycho fangirls." Inuyasha muttered under his breath. Shippo refrained from rolling his eyes, even though it was very, very hard.

"We've been looking for you." Ippou told him eagerly.

"We saw all the transfers!" Jippou added on.

"And two of them got to eat lunch with the Five!" Sanpou jumped in.

"Just 'cause of Rin!" Shihou nodded.

"Just 'cause!" Gohou repeated. Gohou had been the one who Shippo had "saved."

"I don't see why everyone makes such a big ass fuss about the Five." Inuyasha folded his arms coolly. "Oh, big deal, they've got lots of money. So does practically everybody else." Shippo agreed with this statement. He thought the way the Five were held above everybody else was a bit on the ridiculous side, but he didn't really see any sense in complaining about it. It was just the way things were.

"Hey, Shippo, have you seen Miroku?" Hiten appeared out of nowhere just then. The red-eyed boy glanced past the boy he had just questioned and saw Inuyasha. As soon as their eyes locked, they were glaring viciously at each other.

"Yeah, I just saw him. He went that way." Shippo answered, ignoring the glaring contest and pointing toward where he had last seen Miroku prancing off.

"So get moving, man-whore." Inuyasha jabbed a thumb in the direction Shippo had pointed in.

"Nobody asked _you_, Mini-maru." Hiten retorted.

"Mini-maru?" Shippo repeated questioningly.

"Because he's a shorter, less attractive version of Sesshomaru." Hiten explained with a smug look on his face. "See, he didn't bathe for so long that his hair just turned black."

"God, can't you just go fuck Shippo's groupies and leave us the fuck alone?" Inuyasha asked scathingly. Everyone knew that Inuyasha _hated_ to be compared to Sesshomaru. Truly, it was a low blow on Hiten's part to bring up Inuyasha's far more popular and widely admired older half-brother.

"Whatever, notice that they're all Shippo's?" Hiten put his nose in the air as he turned. "You're just jealous that you can't find _one _woman who would date you, unless maybe it would get her close to your brother." With that, Hiten walked off.

"We are _not _groupies." Souten, the toughest of the girls who followed Shippo around, glared at Inuyasha angrily. She looked like she just might jump on the dark-haired boy and beat him senseless if further provoked.

"Stay back there," Inuyasha waved a dismissive hand at her, clearly not worried, "with the other stupid girls."

"Here come the Five!" Ippou was peering further down the hall, and Shippo could see the crowd of students was definitely parting in the middle, a sure sign that the Five were approaching.

Shippo had to admit that they looked something like royalty as they walked down the hallways so impressively. Kagura at the lead, a smug look on her face, flanked on her right by Kikyo, who looked like she could care less about who was around her, or even where she was, and on the left by Tsubaki, who was doing a terrific imitation of Kagura's smug sneer. On Tsubaki's left side was Sango, who had a much more approachable expression. Out of all of the Five, Sango definitely looked like the easiest to talk to. On Kikyo's left was Yura, who was waving at a few of the people she actually knew, and smiling and winking at any boy she thought deserved that much attention.

Then, flooding in the wake that they left behind, was a veritable train of lackeys. At the front was Rin, the most respected of the lackeys, who was waving at almost everybody she could see and calling out their names in greeting.

"Hi Shippo! Hi Inuyasha!" Rin gave them a winning smile. Shippo waved back and Inuyasha tried his best to look like he didn't care who was waving at him, but he did give the bright-eyed girl a two-fingered wave. No one knew exactly why Rin was so well-liked. She was super friendly without being annoying, and everyone speculated that even the ice-cold Kikyo couldn't resist her amiability.

The rest of the train consisted of the lesser known lackeys, like Tsubaki's Momigi and Botan. Trying to step in front of Rin and walk closer to the Five was Ayame, who was known for being one of the biggest gossips in Yuufuku Academy.

Strangely, Shippo was reminded of when they were all much younger. They had all gone to the "right" elementary school and subsequently, the "right" middle school and now they were in the "right" high school. He remembered that in elementary school, Kagura walked down hallways like she owned the place, but at her side there hadn't been any of the other members of the Five. Only Kagura and her twin brother.

Some people thought that Jakotsu could have been part of the Five, and that he was definitely girly enough to fit in with the others, but no one knew why the duo, who had once been inseparable were now rarely seen together.

As soon as the Five had cleared through, the crowd surged back together, and Miroku came up to them for the second time that afternoon.

"I can't find him anywhere." Miroku sighed dramatically as soon as he was within speaking range.

"Miroku, tell your girlfriend to keep his fucking mouth shut." Inuyasha was obviously still brooding over the "Mini-maru" comment.

"My girlfriend…?" Miroku trailed off, looking confused. Then the answer seemed to dawn on him and he grinned. "Oooh, Hiten _was_ here."

"Yeah, he was looking for you." Shippo explained. "He went that way." Shippo gestured in the correct direction.

"Give me a few minutes, I don't want to accidentally catch up to the Five…" Miroku had a very mischievous look on his face. "I had a bit of an unfortunate encounter with Sango earlier today…she doesn't seem all that thrilled to see me, and I fear her comrades might try to permanently displace me from her company."

"Grabbed her?" Shippo guessed.

"Something like that." Miroku didn't seem the least bit ashamed by it. "If Hiten had not left me to my own devices, surely I would not have thought to seek entertainment elsewhere…"

"Stupid Hiten." Inuyasha muttered. Miroku straightened his shirt quickly and winked at Koume, who was crowding about with the rest of Shippo's fangirls. She blushed and looked down at her feet quickly. Then he gave them all a smile before he walked off in search of Hiten once more.

Only a few minutes had gone by when Hiten came back up through the hallway and approached Shippo, doing his best to completely ignore Inuyasha, who growled in hostility as soon as he spotted the red-eyed boy.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be sucking Miroku off in a closet somewhere?" Inuyasha shot the insult towards Hiten.

"Miroku was just here." Shippo thought it was best to just not interfere with the boys' skirmishes.

"I don't want to hear what you think about when you're alone, Mini-maru." Hiten wasn't paying attention to the ginger-haired boy, who just shook his head at the futility of his situation.

"Hey, you!" Inuyasha snapped his fingers at the fangirls. "Shippo Groupie Four…or whatever your name is! How about you take Hiten here, and you can pretend he's Shippo, and he can pretend you're Miroku, and you guys can work out your issues together."

"I knew it was destiny that we would be reunited!" Miroku was suddenly at Hiten's side, putting an arm around his shoulders. Hiten shrugged him off.

"Dude, stop." Hiten punched Miroku in the shoulder.

"Inuyasha, if in your desperation, you need to pretend that someone else is me, you need only ask, and then you can have the real deal." Miroku gave Inuyasha a suggestive look and Inuyasha scowled as though he might throw-up.

"I don't want gonorrhea of the teeth, thanks." Inuyasha flipped off the purple-eyed boy.

"How do we know you wouldn't give him something?" Hiten immediately jumped to Miroku's defense.

"Virgins don't have STDs." Miroku was still smiling, obviously used to Inuyasha's harsh mouth.

"Shut up." Inuyasha snapped.

"Excuse me." They turned to see a very self-important looking Ayame standing in the hallway, her hands on her hips. "I'm looking for Bankotsu; I've got a very important message from Kagura."

"An important message?" Hiten looked skeptical.

"Well, originally Sara was supposed to take it, but I volunteered to do it instead." Ayame explained, as though the boys would be interested in this sort of information. "So, do you know where he is? I've got to find him."

"What's the message?" Miroku looked somewhat intrigued. "It does seem that she favors Bankotsu a bit over the others…"

"Maybe you should stop hitting on all her friends _and_ lackeys." Hiten grinned. "Not that I can blame you, Yura's pretty hot."

"Yes, she certainly is." Miroku nodded in agreement. "Although I must speak up for Kikyo, who is so unattainable that it is unbelievably appealing."

"That's way out of your league." Hiten informed him. "Sango seems less immune to you."

"Um, _hello_?" Ayame looked annoyed that she had been momentarily forgotten. "I have to get this message to Bankotsu, but if you guys don't know where he is…"

"What's the message?" Hiten repeated Miroku's earlier question.

"She wants Bankotsu to come over to her house after school." Ayame replied, looking as though this task being entrusted to her made her far superior to the boys. Well, she seemed rather pleased with herself _before_ Inuyasha did a surprisingly good imitation of Ayame and caused the girl to flounce off angrily.

"Cute." Shippo told his friend.

----------------------

Stretching himself out over the cushions on his large window seat, a young man with dark hair and fathomless hazel eyes, found his gaze drifting toward the small gap in his curtains. Other than the strip of light, still as intense as in the morning, the room was slowly getting darker and darker as the sun moved away from where it had previously flooded the large living area.

He watched a large black car come up the drive and park at the front of the house. The driver got out in a series of practiced, mechanical motions, moving around to the back of the car, and then opening the door so that the passenger might exit the vehicle. Out stepped a tall young man with a long black braid and beautiful, ocean blue eyes.

_So you're here today…_

_Because when she calls, everyone comes to see her. _

The young man took hold of a cushion that his head had been resting on, and in a swift movement, threw it across the room, knocking an expensive vase off a table and onto the floor, where it shattered with a satisfying clatter.

It didn't matter to him, and no one would notice that he had broken another one. The maids would clean it up without questioning him. He got up, very carefully avoiding stepping in the mess, and sat at his vanity with a deep sigh.

He picked up a tube of lipstick and opened it, slowly applying it to his lips.

_Do you think she's as pretty as I am? _

_Or did you secretly come here to see me? Mother would never allow it._

His lips curled upwards in a somewhat devilish smile. His sister could have everything she wanted. She could have the whole world.

But she couldn't have _him_.

----------

Dun, dun, DUN! I know, somewhat evil. And what is everybody else up to? I guess we'll see next time who will play the…Wicked Game. Ehehehehehehehe. Okay, I'm a dork. Please review though!


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